Tulsa Atheist Rendezvous grew out of the Atheists Meetup group in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We seek to provide an opportunity for those who self-identify as atheists to meet with one another for fellowship and to discuss matters of mutual interest. --Dan Nerren, moderator

Friday, December 01, 2006

Letter from Larry Forrest

I'm appalled that some wingnuts, most notably Dennis Prager, are kicking up a fuss over the desire of US Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minn., to take his oath of office with the Koran rather than the Bible.

This is outrageous! We always hear about how conservatives revere the "original intent" of the writers of our Constitution; well, here's what they had to say about the oath for legislative office:

"Article VI, Section 3: The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but NO RELIGIOUS TEST SHALL EVER BE REQUIRED AS A QUALIFICATION TO ANY OFFICE OR PUBLIC TRUST UNDER THE UNITED STATES."

Emphasis mine. How much clearer can it be? Prager is a religious bigot, pure and simple. I no more believe in the Koran than I do in the Bible, but I support the concept of religious freedom, which means that if Ellison wants to swear an oath on the Koran, so be it.

Furthermore, the President of the United States is required to take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." (Article II, Section 7.) Please note that there's no requirement to say "So help me God" at the end. I believe George Washington was the first to append that remark to the oath, and other presidents have followed suit. But there is no Constitutional requirement that a president say it.